Emerald Eyes
by lizzytish-lover of everything8
Summary: "Barry watched as Bart disappeared, so similar to how Wally had all those years ago. Barry felt the lightning strike hit his body, then nothing." Barry and Bart get trapped in the speed force five years after Wally disappeared (because we all know he didn't die) in the end of season 2. There Wally must break free and relight the willpower in his family
1. Barry slips

Barry watched as Bart disappeared, so similar to how Wally had all those years ago. Barry felt the lightning strike hit his body, then nothing.

:::

It might have been seconds, minutes, even days before he saw Bart running beside him. The blonde speedster tried to slow down, but the attempts were futile. He just continued running, running into nothing but white.

The speedforce.

Somehow the word came to mind.

Barry had heard of this place before, where all speedsters draw their power from.

And he knew, though he had no idea how, that he was there, trapped.

And that was all.

:::

When Barry managed to focus his mind again he took in his surroundings.

Bart was to his left and to his right, was a boy, with eerily familiar bright orange hair. Through the slits of the cowl, long since torn to shreds, Barry could see bloodshot, ragged emerald eyes.

Then there was nothing, again.

:::

He veered his toward the familiar college-aged kid clad in an outdated yellow costume beside him.

A picture from Christmas the past year appeared in his mind, a little girl with orange pigtails, a splatter of freckles across her nose, red flash footy pajamas, and the same vivid emerald eyes. The four-year-old was clutching the toy Batman she had received from "Uncle Dickie" and "Aunty Zee" that year, and trying to keep up with her newly developed speedster family members, Barry's twins, Dawn and Donnie. That little girl was most likely the man beside Barry's daughter, Iris Paula West.

There was no doubt in Barry Allen's mind that his beloved nephew that had given his life for the world about five years ago was running beside him, bringing back memories from very different circumstances, some good, some bad.

But he forgot.

:::

The teenaged supposedly dead hero took no notice of his uncle, or his cousin's son's presences. Bart too was staring straight ahead at the endless nothingness before them. Their mouths were moving, but no words came out, at least that Barry could hear. Wallace Rudolph West aka Kid Flash the first was mouthing the same distinct word over and over again, 'spitfire'. Whatever that meant, the fastest man alive didn't know.

Bart was saying the name 'Emily'. Did his grandson have a girlfriend? He didn't even know the boy knew an Emily.

It was only then did the speedster realize he was saying a word over and over again involuntarily too. 'Iris', his beautiful wife that he would give anything for played on his lips a million times over.

Finally Barry slipped.

**This is my imagining of what happened to Wally, because we all know he couldn't just die. Artemis had their kid and quit the team after she found out. I imagined Irey and the twins speed developing over time. Lian is a part of their daughter's life and is being raised by Roy (Red Arrow) with Jade. Bart's Emily will come into play eventually come into play.**

**I have to warn you my knowledge of the official speedforce is limited to other fics and the cartoon Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. This is YJ world. **


	2. Wally Returns

There was nothing in his world. He had been running mindlessly for as long as he could remember. It changed though, two others appeared, running beside him the abyss.

Why was he forced to be there? Who had made him stay in this horrid state? Why were there others all of a sudden? Most importantly, who was his spitfire? The word he had mumbled for as long as his memory. Time had no place here.

He had been there long, he knew, but there was another place he had been before, a place that had more colors than white, and yellow, and red. It had green, and for some reason that meant a lot to him. He knew the word and knew it was darker than red and white and yellow, whatever darker meant. But he couldn't imagine it.

His surroundings never changed, his path was always the white desert, straight ahead. He was knew he was going somewhere, there was a goal, something to reach, someone to go back to. Always someone, something, somewhere, no name, there must have been, at some point, but he had long forgotten.

His spitfire was his goal, his drive, the reason he had tried to slow down at first. But spitfire as probably forgotten his name too, as he had forgotten its.

The people to his left were familiar, maybe the man he was before knew them. They were fast like him, and the younger one had hair close to his own, but he didn't know them.

He had stopped trying to slow down long ago, at first he had life to go back to, now he didn't. He kept running because he wanted to see spitfire, to meet it. To see her, well he didn't know if it was a girl but it felt right. Sometimes it was curiosity that kept him going, and sometimes it was something more, a tingling above his stomach.

There had been another, clad in blue, but he faded, the person gave up on slowing down or reaching his goal so he went faster and faster, until the blue man left.

And he was alone.

:::

Now there was others. They too mouthed words. The short one, 'Emily'. The tall one, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris…Iris…Irey, Aunt Iris. The names danced in his head with spitfire, spitfire, Iris, Irey, Aunt Iris, Emily, Emily…it fit with others, like mother, daughter, granddaughter. Those words fit together too, but he didn't know what they meant. Millions of words, numbers, impossible names danced through his mind.

Spitifire, Iris, Irey, Emily, Spitfire, Iris, Irey, Emily…

He moved he moved his lips to the words. It had to mean something, it had to mean something, something, someone. The words overwhelmed him.

_You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed, why isn't anyone just whelmed …_ a childish voice whispered in his mind. Someone he used to know liked to say stuff like that. Did that person know spitfire? And Aunt Iris? And Irey? And Emily? No, not Emily, the other three, but not the shorter one's 'Emily'.

He knew a Dinah and a Megan and Babs and a Zatanna and a Bruce and Conner, and Kaldur, and…and Barry, Bart, Roy, Ollie, the names came rushing back to him. The voice was Dick and he was his best friend. They were on a team, no Dick was on the team, he quit with his spitfire after Dick's brother J-Jason and and Kaldur's love T-Tula…his…his Artemis. His spitfire was his Artemis and she just found out…she just told him…she just told him when they were in Paris…they were in Paris to save the world.

_It's gone chrysalis_… Run and…and …and die for Artemis and Baby, Baby, Iris, Irey or Baby Jai. He thought it was a Baby Irey. They had five minutes to celebrate before…

_Artemis is going to kill me, and don't get me started on Mom and Dad._ It was his voice, he had almost forgotten the sound of his own voice.

_Just tell them, tell them. _He had told Uncle Barry…Uncle Barry! No, NO, he couldn't be there, what about…he recalled the memory of Aunt Iris's very swollen belly…. He wondered if Artemis had looked like that. Dawn and Donald were their names, as his cousin Bart had fortold…Bart. He was here too.

The innocent young boy looked older than the last time he had seen him and he was wearing what looked like Kid Flash's outfit. He attempted to smile, but couldn't. Why did he find that so important?

Wait, he knew Dick and Kaldur and Conner and Megan and Zatanna and Roy and everyone from what? From their team, team of… heroes, well the partners of big name heroes. That's what he was dressed as, Kid Flash, The Fastest Boy Alive, sidekick of The Flash. Everyone got him mixed up with Speedy, original Roy, then Red Arrow Clone Roy. But Clone Roy ended being much more pleasant, probably because of Lian's influence. Lian was his neice, wait…he had no siblings…but Artemis did, Jade, Cheshire…his sister-in-law. Artemis and him just got married, right after she got back from her undercover mission.

Bart took over his mantle, just like Robin there would be a legacy. Maybe Dawn or Don would come after Bart, or his…his… baby. Was it a girl or boy? He never should have let Artemis fight The Reach's devices, or course he hadn't known then, but she had.

And he left her, he left. He had to get back to her. Get back to all of them.

With all his mind, his heart, his soul, he utilized his vocal chords. It came out as a whisper first, his voice was scratchy from not be used for God knows how long, but his voice grew and grew. It was a long shot, he didn't even know if they could hear him at all. But he knew he had to try.

He yelled with all his might, using the voice that had taunted, flirted, joked, cried, and laughed, "BARRY!"

Wallace Rudolph West, the former Kid Flash, the father, husband, friend, son… hero, was back.

**Wow, Wally is back. **

**Next Time: Bart's Memories**

**Review Please**


	3. Bart's Memories

Bart couldn't remember what he was doing before he was running in this strange, white place. It was beautiful, so light, at first. But then it got old real fast.

The speed force.

This wasn't his first time here. Years ago, or…in the future, he had…will be here…ugh, why couldn't time travel be simple?

Of course, he wasn't a tourist, if you hadn't figured that out yet. Wanted to change the future, he wanted to give her a chance at life. Her, his tether to earth, the reason he stuck around, even after he discovered his collar had short circuited. His baby, his angel, his princess. She was small for a ten-year-old and quiet, given her family history of motor mouths. He loved her.

Emily was everything to him. She was like his sister, but much more, his best friend, his baby bird, his hope. Emily came bearing hope for not only metas but humanity. She was bonded the remaining League together and started the rebellion before she could walk.

Emily Artemis Grayson, the only child of Irey Paula West and John Richard Grayson. His parents and her parents grew up together, and when the purges hit they were all hidden together.

Bart loved her, he wanted to give her a chance.

He tried to hold on to that thought but he felt his mind dimming, slipping in a memory

:::

_"__Mamma, Jordan!" _

_"__Come on Bart," Bart's dad pulled him along, accelerating his speed to almost maximum. _

_"__We can't leave them!" A three-year-old Bart screeched into Donald's ear. The bad men had come to their hide out. His Momma and Daddy and big brother, Jordan had fought them off, but there was too many. Suddenly, Uncle Damien and Aunt Lian were there fighting beside them and it looked like they were going to win. _

_Then the baddest man alive came. Aunt Lian hesitated for some reason. Aunt Lian started to say, "I know you're—" the blue man blasted them into the wall. Bart watched, eyes wide as his Aunt and Uncle crumpled against the wall. _

_Then his Momma yelled "Take Bart and go!" Jordan and Momma was blocked by the big blue monster. They couldn't get away themselves, only Bart was like Daddy, Jordan was like Momma, he had her, Canary Cry._

_His Daddy looked at his eldest son and his wife, both who were kicking and screaming at anything that came close, and looked at his childhood friends, curled up in a ball in the corner, and made the decision that would change his life, and his son's, forever. _

_He ran. _

_Bart was kicking and screaming in his arms, but he pushed his levels and went to the closest safe house he knew of, the place that probably sent Lian and Damien, Irey and John. _

_As they approached the house they could hear someone screaming bloody murder._

_"__Daddy?" Bart asked._

_A small smile traced his father's lips, "Irey was due any day now." He slowed down and looked at Bart, the dirt on the man's face was streaked with tears. "I bet Aunt Artemis and…" He paled. Would Donald have to be the one to tell Artemis and Dick that Lian and Damien were gone, or…or worse?_

_His dad weakly opened the door of the rickety shack. Just their luck, he knew this baby was hope for the world but did the entire surviving League have to be there._

_"__Donnie!" the retired Black Canary, his Gran, Dinah Queen, rushed forward and embraced Bart's dad and took the three-year-old in her arms. She just then seemed to notice her daughter and older grandson were absent. "Where's… where's Anna?"_

_"__Aunt Di, I'm…I'm so…" Bart's dad croaked. The boy buried his in her chest. _

_Gran looked striken. Anna as all she had left of her missing husband and younger daughter, Aunt Amy. Everyone refered to dead people as missing, apparently it was more positive, but his parents only thought it was misleading. _

_Uncle Dick looked up, tears were in his eyes. Bart couldn't figure out if it was because his only son was about to have a baby, or because he had just realized neither Damien nor Lian were with them._

_"__Blue." His father said, like it was the answer to everything, and it was. Blue Beetle had once been their friend. But whatever was left of Jamie Reyes in there certainly wasn't in control. Some, like Lian, thought he could be redeemed, others, not so much. _

_A women's screaming pierced the silence, followed by laughter. They all realized that the baby had come. _

_"__Why isn't it crying?" Aunt Irey's ragged voice came from the other room. Everyone looked to the door. You could hear a pin drop."Why isn't my baby crying?!" The screeched . _

_"__I…I don't know." The doctor was some random person with a PhD from the old days. The heroes surrounding Bart knew first aid, psychology, not anything about babies, even the mothers. "You two having a child is kind of a medical marvel, so I'm not sure." _

_"__I know, I know, just save my baby." Bart heard Iris cry through tears_

_"__Girl, it was a baby girl."_

_"__Was, she was stillborn?" Aunt Artemis' voice reached the heroes in the other room. Bart only met her once when he was very little, but he'd known her calming voice anywhere. _

Help, _a little voice said in his head, _help me, please_. Bart slipped out of his Gran's grip that had been loosened by shock. She tried to grab after him, but her utilized his developing super-speed. _

_The child walked in a daze into the birthing room._

_Uncle John and Aunt Artemis flanked the crying new mother. He moved so fast everyone around him were still, his even his dad was slower running after Bart. _

_Bart placed his hand on the Baby's forehead and immediately she started to cry, loudly too. Bart slowed down and time went back to normal. He looked up at Irey, her mother, and her husband. They were frozen shock. _

_The doctor was stuttering, "H-h-how…she-she was…" Bart was as confused as everyone else, but, acting almost against his will, he gingerly picked up the baby, who felt weightless in his hands, and handed her to her mother._

_She was still staring at Bart._

_"__Bart?" His dad started, "What. On. Earth. _Was that_?" Bart shrugged jumped off the bed._

_"__That, Donald, was something amazing." Dick said from the doorway. "Blue Beetle better watch out , someone inherited Grandma Zee's powers."_

:::

"BARRY!" Wally's voice knocked him out of his stupor.

**Well, that was heavy. I always wanted Bart's mom to be related to heroes and I don't think she is ever mentioned. I don't actually remember any interaction between Bart and Canary and Arrow, but hey, it's fanfiction. **

**Next Time: Barry How Back**

**I'd love to have some feedback, so please review. Nothing too hurtful though.**


	4. Come Home

"BARRY!"

The sound startled him. It was the first sound waves to hit his ears in what felt like forever.

But who was…ohhhh.

His nephew beside him had yelled this. It was impossible…Wally hadn't… whatever.

"WALLY! How the hell are you alive?" This didn't come from the blonde speedster either, but his time traveling grandson.

"I don't know? Did you guys all think I was dead?" Wally asked.

"Umm, yeah. You were gone and Blue's scarab said you ceased." Bart replied.

"What exactly does that mean?" Wally said, suddenly offended.

"Boys we need to find a way to get out of the speed force. Wally, do you know you've been here around five years." Barry finally found the energy to vocalize.

"What! I mean it didn't feel like anything. It's like we're nowhere." Wally's face crinkled in disorientation and then it flattened in despair. "Does that mean Artemis's baby is four?"

"How do you know about—you know what we'll talk about this later." Barry sighed. "We can't possibly be the only ones ever to get trapped in the speed force."

"You've been here longer, Wally, did you see anyone?" Bart said.

"I think Max Mercury was here when I got here, but sort of gave in to the speed force. I think if you've been here long enough you can ah…move on. I've never seen anyone go home."

Bart was quiet, he was debating in his head whether or not to tell them about his excursion in the speed force. But that was completely different circumstances.

Bart was younger, and it had been a Reach experiment. He shrugged it off. He had gone through with it and not struggled because his Emily's life was at risk, the girl was his Achilles heel.

Wally looked up, his thoughts were running though his mind faster than he was running through the speed force. "Assuming this is some sort of pocket dimension, there must be a door to get back, we got here somehow," There was that damned word again, it was right up there with something, someone, and somewhere, it represented the fact that he had been lost for five years and probably more, none of them knew how long they had all been there together.

Nothing much scared the once Kid Flash, loosing Artemis and Dick and Barry and the rest of his family did. Having to be in Speed Force for all eternity did. But what scared him the most was being there so long and finally returning to nothing, everyone he knew gone, the League was a group of wannabe hotshots. And his biggest fear, having to see the graves of his family, his friends, his life, and realize that they weren't coming back, they weren't just on an undercover mission, they aren't MIA with even the slightest glimmer of hope of seeing their smiling faces again, they were genuinely dead.

Right now, thinking of this, Wally would get a fuzzy feeling from seeing the Bat-glare again. Just going back to the good-old –days, when all the relationship drama shit the team had experienced and actually all this growing up crap and deaths and disappearances and lies and even having kids and their own snarky protégés, were just figment of their imaginations yet to come.

"Let's try stopping together." Wally said finally, he didn't want to think about the future, he needed to this about now, nothing more. "On the count of three."

For Iris.

"1…"

For Emily.

"2…"

For Spitfire.

"3…"

And then there was nothing.

**Sorry that was short, I had written this whole piece but then realized it didn't really fit. I'm trying to make them longer, but I'm kind of failing, if you hadn't noticed.**


	5. What Happened to the World

The next time Wally West opened his eyes he almost didn't think he was in a better place. The sky was gray and ash colored snow was falling from it. The usually fruitful land of Happy Harbor, as he would recognize it anywhere, was barren and dark. The ripped figure of Mount Justice stood in the distance. On instinct he stood up and a ran a few paces to the familiar landmark, until he realized that even in the last time he remembered no one would be there. There were no lights on in the town.

Every building had been torn to pieces. But it wasn't just by age; he knew the markings of a battle against Superman. Two holes side by side advertized his laser vision. Wally also realized that it had been a long time since the battle, but not that long, maybe a few years. How odd, why hadn't it been rebuilt. A lot of times cities use the excuse of a super villain attack for renovations. Something wasn't right, and not the obvious things.

Everything looked so different. He set his eyes on the grease spot of a high school, the place he once attended a party at that got way too out of hand, the place they had taken kids after the hole parents disappearing diabolic that ended in losing one of their own, and the place he had watched M'Gann cheer and Conner play football **{A/N: Can't you just imagine that?}** and Zatanna and Dick compete in gymnastic competitions. How long was he in that damned speedforce?

:::

Barry almost didn't wanted to open his eyes. Wally had been in there five years and didn't realized it, he and Bart could have been in there for a hundred years for all he knew. His dear Iris was most likely dead, his babies old by now. But he opened them anyway. The moment he did he regretted it. He was in the middle of Central City, just outside the Flash museum. The huge statue of The Flash had fallen on its side. It was Central City, but it wasn't. His home was in ruins. He stood up and turned around, but his knees gave way in pain when he saw what his beloved city had become. He slipped onto the incredibly cold ground in agony. The sky was gray and he couldn't even see the outline of the moon or the sun.

Barry's mind drifted to Bart. There was no way that his grandson had come to the future for "fun". He had done something to Neutron to stop him from blowing up the city. He knew the paths they were going to take. Maybe he was born into a hell like this. Bart had taken Blue Beetle under his swing and had guided him. Without Bart, Jamie would have been lost to the Reach forever. Maybe in his childhood Blue Beetle was the bad guy. And maybe now that had come to pass.

But he couldn't know for sure. Maybe he didn't want to know for sure.

:::

_The smoke was building around them; every now and then someone would pop out of the darkness. Gran would sing her song. Dad would punch and dodge blows using his speed. Aunt Irey would shoot an arrow, then speed around and kick the bad guys. _

_Emily was crying about wanting to help, yelling about leaving them to die, how horrible a person Bart was. He realized this was how he sounded to his father the night Momma and Jordan died. _

_The girl who was more than his sister buried her face in his chest, her small body racked with sobs. It killed him to see his angel like this, but what had to be done had to be done._

_Suddenly a towering blue figure stepped out the smoke like and action star from the old movies Jordan had loved as a kid._

_ "__You're Blue Beetle; you've come to take us away, haven't you?" Bart tried bravely. When he was younger and he played with Jordan, his brother was the hero, The Flash, Green Arrow, Superman, and Bart was just the reporter interviewing him, the scared bystander, and, on occasion, the wise cracking protégé. Jordan was big and mighty, while Bart was the sidekick, it worked for them. Now he had to be brave._

_ "__Yes, meat." His voice sounded nothing like he had pieced together from old Team stories involving Jamie Reyes. Wait a second… maybe that was what they needed. _

_ "__But you're not just Blue Beetle, are you? You were once a boy, just like me. You had friends, a team. I've heard about you having a sister, too, wasn't she a Green Lantern _**{AN: Not sure if that is canon exactly, but I've seen way too many fics for that not to be.}**_. I used to think maybe you could be that man again—"_

_ "__Bart, what are you doing?" _

_ "__Improvising, and then I saw you push aside my Aunt Lian, quite literally, the daughter and niece of some people you trusted like family, and one of the few people who still believed in you. When my dad had to tell her and Uncle Damien's family that you killed them or took them or whatever you did to them, no one was surprised. _

_"__Your actions just justified what they had already suspected; you were too far gone for redemption. Prove them wrong, let us go. Let me, Bart, Donnie and Anna's kid, Grandson of The Flash, Green Arrow, and Black Canary, and my friend, Emily, Irey and Johnny's kid, Granddaughter of Wally, Artemis, Nightwing, and Zatanna, Great Granddaughter of a whole lot of League powerhouses (not to mention big bads), go, and show them all they were wrong, eh, Jamie?"_

_The monster stood very still, he didn't move his weapon hand._

_"__Nice speech. Got anymore tricks?" She might be a quiet kid, but the girl certainly had her "Wally" moments, as Aunt Artemis called them. _

_But it worked; Blue Beetle lowered his stun gun. "I never thought anyone could believe in me again, but…you know you remind me a whole damn lot of Barry, kid, Wally, too. They both tried to see the best in others." _

_Just when the kids thought they'd won, Black Beetle came up behind the newly reformed villain. He muttered something in Jaime's ear. The tip of Blue's gun was the last thing Bart saw before darkness._

_:::_

_Bart awoke to one of the Reach's minions slapping him across the face._

_ "__Wake up." After being around the invaders for so long Bart had learned the basics of their language. _

_The creature pulled him out of the back of a transport by his hands tied behind back. Around his neck was one of those metagene inhibitor collars he had heard about._

_ "__Move." The Reach croaked. In fear of being electrocute, he did._

_He led him down the hall past experiments. Some of them he recognized. Bart swore he saw Captain Marvel strapped to a table. _

_ "__Where are you taking me? Where's Emily? Where's Dad and Aunt Irey and Uncle Johnny and—"_

_ "__You Earthlings ask too many questions." He sighed "The Leader finds special interest in your friend. It is not every day we discover a child with two inherited active metagenes. _

_"__She, and you, for that matter, are also very high in value to many of our…more troublesome inmates."He smiled, as if formulating a horrific scene. "I expect your family, and about a twenty other projects to stop wrestling their inspectors if they knew your life was at stake._

_ "__As to where you are going, well you'll just have to find out."_

_He led Bart down a hall into a sort of observation area. Out the window was a horrifying sight, his family, his heroes, shacked to tables in some sort of mess hall. He could pick out a few, his father, Aunt Irey, and Uncle Johnny were present, but there were scores of others. Even Superman was there. It looked like almost all of his grandfather's generation was there and a good number from Uncle Dick's, but also his parents'. He scanned the…there they were, Momma and Jordan, shackled and collared like the rest of them, at table with Aunt Lian and Uncle Damien. _

_The strangest thing was they were completely motionless, like they were in a daze. _

_As if reading his thoughts the attendant announced, "They are under a serum that keeps them half awake. We can wake them up when we want to, if we want to." His smile gave Bart the shivers. "Bring in the girl." He said._

_His Emily stumbled in. She took in her surroundings like he had. But her eyes found someone different in the crowd. He followed her gaze to a woman in the back with ebony hair and a man with raven black, Bart knew who they were, Zatanna and Batman. _

_ "__Any idea on getting out of here?" She whispered to Bart. _

_ "__Nope, not a clue."_

_The attendant stood up to a microphone on a table. "Hello heroes," He said greasily, and on cue all of the jolted awake, chattering, yelling across the room, just how books describe cafeterias to be._

_ "__I have brought you out of your pods for a very special occasion. You might have noticed my guests up here today."_

_Bart watched as his father tried to stand up and yelled, "Bartimaeus Allen, you are grounded!" _

_ "__What does grounded mean?" Emily asked. She didn't realize the heroes could hear what the kids were saying. _

_ "__You're lucky you don't know," Uncle Damien muttered. "Ow." Aunt Lian had kicked him under the table._

_ "__Oops."_

_ "__Geez, I never expected that many people to be alive." Bart muttered._

_ "__Why kill when you could study?" Reach Ambassador smiled manically. Emily spit at him. _

_Bart swore he heard Uncle Wally mutter "Good aim." _

_The Ambassador scowled at her. "You'll pay for that girl." He said as he nodded to the control's operator. The operation pressed a button and Uncle Johnny's inhibitor collar went off. _

_ "__Daddy!"Emily shrieked. Bart felt his insides go into mush. Hearing his baby girl sound like that killed him. "Stop it, please! PLEASE!" The control operator jumped and quickly shut it off. Now that was a tone you don't want to hear her. She might be a tiny, malnourished, seven-year-old girl, but she could pack a punch, literally. If there was one thing sweet little innocent Emily inherited from Great Grandpa Batman, it was that ability to scare the shit out of bad guys. _

_The Ambassador turned to the other worker. "Did I tell you to stop?" He sighed "Anyway every time any of you act out we will torture someone you love. Do you understand?" _

_All of Bart's great "heroes" had tears in their eyes. It was way different than the stories he had been told. The Reach had broken them. Now Bart was going to break the Reach._

_:::_

Bart was jolted awake by what felt like electricity surging through his body.

"Oi! Virgil!" He yelled at the older boy. "Knock it off, I'm awake, I'm awake."

"Who are you?" A woman in front to him asked. Was that Batgirl? Why didn't they know who he was?

"Wait, but— I'm Bart!" They both looked confused. "You, that time traveler you found. Bart Allen, Kid Flash, Impulse, geez you'd think a kid from the future would make a bigger impression."

"No, it-it's not that." Static stuttered. "You're supposed to be dead."

"Sorry to disappoint." He said sarcastically.

Barbra and Virgil turned around. "I-I know. Yeah, okay." The muttered into their comm. links. "Sorry Allen." Virgil's hand went down hard on Bart's head, knocking him unconscious.

"It can't be him." Timothy Drake A.K.A. Robin (until further notice) came out of the shadows.

"It sure looks like him." Cassie Sandsmark A.K.A. Wondergirl who just arrived at the scene nodded at Static's proclamation.

"But what about what he was muttering about." Batgirl noted. "Does anyone know an Emily?" Everyone present shook their heads.

Cassie frowned. "But he's from the future. Maybe she's from there. I mean does anyone really know him that well?" Again no one knew. "I would be more worried about "The Reach, The Reach, Uncle Johnny, stop it Beetle."" She mimicked.

"No one has heard from Dick or his kids in almost a year. It couldn't be that Johnny, little Johnny Grayson, could it?" Tim asked anxiously.

"Again, the future." Wondergirl reminded them.

Barbra thought for a moment. Then she nodded. "Do you're thing, Virgil." He shocked Bart back into reality.

"Hey! Oww." He cradles his head. "Thanks a lot, team mate." Bart scoffed.

"I said sorry." Static mumbled.

"Does want to tell me what is going on!" He yelled.

Cassie stepped forward. "Who's Emily?"

Bart froze. "H-how did you learn that name?" Their former friend looked stricken.

"You were mumbling it in your sleep." Tim recalled.

"She…" What the hell was the best way to put it? _She's you Great niece?_ Yeah, no. _My best friend?_ That's not even true. _Nobody?_ He couldn't help but laugh at that one…

"I'll tell you once you tell me what's going on. How long have I been 'dead.'"

Barbra, who was obviously the leader of this strange array of heroes, pursed her lips. "You want the long version or the short version?"

"Just tell me the damn story!" Bart cried.

"It only took five years for the world to go to hell. It all started just after you and Flash supposedly died. The League was in complete disarray. No one wanted to work with anyone. The entire system was falling apart. It was kind of like Flash had been the glue that kept us together. Everyone blamed each other for your "deaths." Then the big, big guys started acting really weird. Wonder Women went back to Themyscira. Superman left Earth and we haven't from his since. Aquaman closed down Atlantis' access to the outside world. Both Green Lanterns left Earth behind. Even Red Tornado went off the grid.

"With the League divided The Light attacked and took over the world. It was theirs in less than a week. I-I've seen an attack so fast." Barbra looked down.

"Why didn't we detect them on the Watchtower? I mean you've faced worse threats, even divided." he asked.

Cassie looked at him. "Bart, did you ever wonder why, when you radioed for help that day no one came. They hacked the Watchtower, took it over, set off poisons that killed anyone there. We lost a lot of good men that day." She glanced down.

"Are you the only ones left?" He asked worriedly.

They all exchanged looks. "As far we know." Robin started. "But don't worry, you're still here, so you're parents must be alive. Last we heard of your dad and aunt was Iris and Paula were taking a lot of kids down into hiding. There are tunnels that lead under cities, a literal 'underground' for refugees. The light did away with any type of order, so the world is a war with its self. I don't think Alaska exists anymore due to some idiot inventing some idiotic invention."

"So the bottom line is, people now suck at being people." Everyone laughed. This was the kind of thing the world lacked terribly of. Bart sighed. "I guess it's now time for my explanation. The source of a speedster's power is called the speedforce. It is a pocket dimension filed with pure energy, kind of like where speed goes to die. When you go too fast you cross over into that dimension and it's impossible to get out. You have to run for all eternity and never stop. It is the worst place. There is nothing to look at and nothing to do and nothing to see. You just run straight forward. You slip in and out of consciousness and after a while you forget who you are. But you have one tether to this world, and you repeat its name automatically.

"Barry and I were sent there when we were fighting that thing that attacked Central. I was strange now that I think about it. We weren't going incredibly fast. Anyway when we got there we weren't alone. Someone else was there as well. The thing that flashed me back to reality was his eyes. Very vivid, bloodshot emerald eyes. Wally. Somehow he broke free of the bonds of the speedforce and with all our strength we turned back in our world."

Bart looked up at all of their blank faces. "What?" he asked.

"Sorry, we didn't catch any of that."

"Oh." He repeated it, careful to be slower this time.

"Wally…is alive?" Barbra asked slowly.

"Last time I checked."

"And we were in a pocket dimension for five years?" Robin clarified.

"Uh huh."

"The pocket dimension filed with pure speed energy?" Cassie asked

"That's correct."

"And you survived?" Virgil asked.

"I think so." Bart said sarcastically. None of them took any noticed

"But Blue's scarab said he ceased." Bart could tell that level-headed, logical, brilliant Barbra was trying so hard to wrap her head around this.

He scratched his head. "I'm still trying to figure that one out myself. But I think scarab meant his physical form would ceased to exist in this plain." They all looked at him in wonder.

"How did you escape?" Robin questioned.

"We all tried at once, we all weren't doing it for ourselves, we had a big enough reason, the world needed us. There are a number of reasons that it could be. Honestly, I have no idea. You can never be sure with the speedforce. It's a divine force of nature, it does what it wants…" he trailed off.

Cassie went bug eyed. "We need to find the others before The Light does!"

**Author's Note: They're back! Well sort of. I hope that answered your question, PainInSilence. I have noticed that by writing this and giving Bart the backstory that I did now I LOVE him. He is my favorite plot to write. Sorry to anyone that wanted more Barry or Wally. But don't worry there will be Spitfire in the near future. And you will see what kind of people the kids turned into. **

**Thank you all of you who favorited, followed, or reviewed this story or followed or favorite me in general, it is an honor. And hey, this one was longer. School starts in a few days so I won't be able to update as much. Sorry for the grammar mistakes in any of the chapters. I HATE GRAMMAR! **


	6. Family

"Etativel mih!" The blonde writhed in the air as the women in front of him cast a spell.

"Hey!" He complained

"Eit mih pu."

"What the—" His eyes went up and down her body. "Zatanna? Conner?" he said the boy next to her. "You aged well." He said in his tradition Barry sarcasm.

"Who are you?" She snarled. "How do you know out names? Nethgit." The ropes wrapped around the speedster tightened.

"Wait, I'm The Flash, Barry Allen. You know me, come on." Their eyes widened in shock. The pair looked ragged. Conner wore his superman shirt under an old jacket, with cargo pants, combat boots and his fingerless gloves. His hair was matted from lack of bathing and his face was covered with dirt. Zatanna looked even worse. She had shed her magician's grab for what Barry guessed counted for civies in this hellish place. Zatanna wore a T-shirt that might have once been purple but now it was gray with ash, a pair of patched jeans, and a muddy leather jacket. This might have been his imagination, but was she hiding a baby bump?

"You-you're dead, long dead." Zatanna's voice cracked.

"Yeah, well that's what you get for pushing your limits of speed." At their confused faces he said. "Let me down and I'll explain." He said. They exchanged a glance, but Conner nodded grimly eventually.

"Pord mih." He fell to the ground with a thud. "Eitnu mih."

"Ow, couldn't you have done that more gracefully? I think I already have a broken rib!" He gestured to the black and blue bruise on his side.

The magician scoffed. "I'm sorry, do you want to try that again?" she lifted her hand and smiled bitterly. This didn't sound like the Zatannna Barry knew.

"Nay, I'm good." He stood, rubbing his head.

Superboy clenched his fists. "Explanation, now."

Barry tried to explain the best he could the speedforce and everything that happened. "…so Bart and Wally and I all tried at once and it worked. Well, maybe it did." He scratched the back of his head.

"I'm not completely sure that we landed in the right time period. How long have I been…" he couldn't say the word.

"About five years. Since then a lot has happened. We'll fill you in on the way back to camp." Barry smiled, now that sounded like Zatara's daughter.

"Wait, you believe that?" Conner asked incredulously.

She nodded. "It wouldn't hurt to bring him back. I mean we kind of have a lot of people to back us up." She whispered in Conner's ear. "Iris and the twins will be able to tell if it's. And if this guy ends up being The Flash and we don't take him but let him starve, guess who would hear about it."

Conner looked at the older man. "Wally's alive?" he croaked.

"Yes."

Not only did the half kryptonian miss his old friend, but no one had been the same since it happened. Artemis eventually found a little bit of redemption with having Irey, the female version of the love of her life, and Nighwing had Zatanna to look after him with John, Cara, and the soon to be Katarina. But Wally had left a hole in all of their lives that had festered for nearly ten years.

With the three of them gone after Barry and his grandson (who's absense, Conner had to admit guiltily, had let him get some peace and quiet), "died" the league sort of lost its heart. They needed Barry back, not only for his twins to have a father again, but for the league to get off their asses and start winning back their world.

Kon-El thought for a moment. "Zatanna," he finally said. "You teleport into the base and tell them the situation, while I stay here with him. That's a compromise, right?"

"But—" Barry started to say but the magician was already gone.

:::

Zatanna appeared in the camp moments later. Everyone swarmed at her.

"What happened?"

"Where's Conner?"

"Where have you been?"

"Zee, I told you not to be teleporting!"

"Dawn, you stepped on my toe!"

"Sorry."

Zatanna whistled over the noise. Everyone shut up. "Something's happened. Something that might change it forever."

"Did the light surrender?" Her daughter Cara asked from Dick's arms.

She chuckled. "Not that big, baby." She took the girl from her father.

"Will you stop being so cryptic and tell us what's going on?" Iris laughed.

"Apparently Barry's alive."

You could hear a pin drop.

…

…

…

"What do you mean Daddy's alive?" Donnie asked quietly after at least a minute of silence.

"Was this a rumor you heard? It probably just some hopefuls trying to be optimistic." Even M'Gann had changed from the bubbly, innocent, new-to-earth person Zatanna remembered meeting all those years ago.

She titled her head from side to side. "More like Conner and I found him crying in the middle the dark side." What everyone called the torn up part of town. "He sounded pretty genuine, but it was hard to tell."

Iris's face was stark white, like she had seen a ghost, or like she was about to see one. "He said they had been trapped in the speedforce, the center of their power for all this time. Does that familiar to you?" she asked no one in particular.

The twins looked at each other. "That's how Daddy taught us control. We had to bend the energy to our will, that it all came from one place. And if you went to fast you could disappear into it" Dawn recalled.

"But we thought it was metaphor, like some way to get us to work harder." Donnie had tears in his eyes. He wasn't a kid you cried that much. He always claimed he was the man of the "house" (place to sleep), the leader, and leaders didn't cry. "But maybe it wasn't."

"Was Bart with him?" Someone in the crowd asked.

She shook her head sadly. "No, but he was in the speedforce with him, we only have it assume he had it out as well, and…" she trailed off. What was the best way to tell Dick that his best friend was still alive. The best friend that Zatanna had finally convinced him was dead after he nearly went crazy looking for. Dick had come to her after the funeral. They spent one night together before she found out Dick had gone off the deep end and they were expecting baby Johnny.

"What?" Iris asked. "What is it?"

"They weren't the only ones in there. The other one had been there five years longer." She couldn't speak his name without crying, none of the originals could, but the people surrounding her got the message. She set Cara down and placed a hand on her protruding belly. They were going to name it Wallace if it was boy, Artemis had been too. But she had had Irey and Zatanna was going to have a Katarina, after her mother. **{ I don't know, my story.}** Now he might be back, he might be back.

Dick, whose arm had been swung around her the moment she returned backed off in shock. There were silent tears dripping down the Martian's face. Iris was still stock still.

"Daddy!" There was shriek. Dawn and Don were speeding toward their father who was been supported by Conner. They slowed down as the approached him and looked at Barry in wonder. "Daddy?" this time it a little more like a question as they hesitated slightly.

Barry slipped from Superboy's gripped and wrapped them in hugs. "My munchins, I've missed you so much!" All three parties were sobbing with joy. "I'm never leaving you again!"

"Is it really you?" Dawn said uncertainly.

"Yes, little angel, yes, my little speedsters." He reassured through sobs.

"Is it—" Dick started to ask Iris but she too was surging forward, nodding profusely.

"Barry?" she croaked.

"Iris!" the twins let their father out of a tight embrace so he could come back to their mother. When each child was expecting a tearful hug, they were surprised when they parents locked lips heartily.

Johnny muttered in Dick's ear. " Hope I'll understand when I'm older." He laughed.

The couple came out of their passionate kiss and clutched each other by the arms like if they let go the other would disappear. "I thought I'd never seen you again." Iris panted.

"You can't get rid of me that easily." He joked. Iris didn't laugh but touched his cheek lovingly and pulled her husband in for another kiss. All the kids around, even the twins, who were overjoyed by their parents' reunion, "ewwed"

They finally pulled apart after what the children thought was like ten minutes long. "Well, hi guys!" Everyone laughed as hugs were passed around.

Dick was rejoicing with everyone else over the return of an old friend and partner, but he had other matters on his mind: Wally.

**Barry and his family! Chalant! Also supermartian is a thing inn the future, get ready. WALLY IS NEXT! See you next time.**

**-Lizzy**


	7. Gone For Too Long

**Geez, so sorry I haven't updated in forever, like a month! I've been so busy with school starting. I have a new school so I've been caught up making new friends and such. Also I have a whole lot of ideas for the next few chapters and this one was kind of like a filler chapters. So sort chapter but its gonna get good, get ready. WARNING: there is implications.**

Five years, five _damn_ years he had manage to evade the light. He stepped up the plate in protecting civilians when the so called "League" chickened out. He checked in with the Arrow family that had made camp around Starr City and even looked after Chris freaking Kent for Lois after Supes up and left.

He had made the choice to avoid his "family" after not hearing from Bruce for four years. He didn't want bad news. He couldn't find out that someone close to him died and then just move on. Yes, badass Jason Todd had a heart. He had always had a soft spot for kids and Dick so he had decided long ago Johnny and Cara would be his undoing.

Finally after five years the light finally caught him. He had made a sluggish mistake. For a moment Red Hood thought he was in the clear because it had been months since the Light made a grab for the rogue hero. They stole him away.

Now he was walking down the hall in the Reach's maximum security prison, that he heard was more like lab than anything else. He walked past cells upon cells. Some held minor villain that were more like a thorn in the side of the Light, others unfamiliar street heroes, but most, he was surprised to recall, held the Leaguers that had supposedly dropped off the face of the Earth, some literally, after Allen's death.

Superman looked up at him as he passed in shock. Captain Marvel, in his Billy Batson persona came the door and goggled at him. The most surprising of all was Zatara, who's always present helmet of fate was absent. He was seated on the floor stared at him with bloodshot, puffy eyes. Jason looked at magician in shock. He had never met the real man, but if the helmet was in the hands of Klarion it was really, really bad.

His guards pushed him into a room called "Lab 2". Lex Luthor stood at a control table in front of a group of pods. Out of them all two were occupied. On had his old acquaintance Aqualad, not surprising, he had seen Aquaman sitting quietly in his cell before. The Atlantian's arms and legs were tense with stress and his face was contorted with pain.

Luthor pulled out a stick and shocked him hard in the back.

Next to Kaldur…was…no…it wasn't…he…dead…eyes…Irey….

And that was Jason Todd's last thought before he blacked out completely.

:::

"I think the best thing to do right now is get a message to the station." Barbra reasoned. They had been discussing ways to tell everyone that the Flashes were alive for nearly an hour and getting nowhere.

"What's that?" Bart asked. That had basically been his contribution to the conversion so far.

She sighed again, "A couple of people set up a radio system. They announce any deaths or disappearances. Last we heard they were holed up in `Metropolis."

"Anyone we know?"

"Actually yeah, the hosts change every broadcast. Some of the regulars are Rocket and Blue Beetle, but like everyone we know has been on heroes mostly." Barbra smiled.

"So I guess we head to Metropolis." Virgil said.

Tim shook his head. "The power sources are still out in our bikes and the Zetas have been offline for years. The only way to get there would be walking or flying."

"I could carry one other there. And Virgil had himself. We would need you to take the last one." Cassie explained.

"Seeing as I've been running for five years straight I doubt I could carry myself that distance, let alone someone else as well." He shrugged. "Maybe a good nights sleep and some protein would help."

Robin nodded, "Good, because that's all we have."

::::

After a night of talking and hugging and catching up Dick and Zatanna, who seemed to act sort of like the leaders, finally decided it was it time for the kids to go to bed. Dawn and Don slept in a large tent with a furnace. A curtain separated Iris and Barry's bed from the twins'. The tent was small, but cozy.

"Daddy, you are going to stay, aren't you?" Dawn asked innocently when her father tucked her in for the first time in five years.

He looked down at his little girl and boy that he barely even knew anymore. Barry sadly understood their doubt. When they were younger he sometimes was in the infirmary or on off planet missions for days at a time, but he always came home. He couldn't begin to imagine the pain his then almost five-year-old had felt when there was one mission he didn't stagger in after. "Dawn I'm never leaving again, ever."He kissed her nose and pulled up the covers further.

They smiled their toothy grins. "Good night." He looked sadly at them and stayed with them until they fell asleep.

He pushed open the curtain to reveal his wife.

"Hi." She was seated on the bed in just white bra and underwear. "How was it?"

He looked at her incredulously, "You realized our kids are just behind the door, right?" he mouthed.

"They're heavy sleepers." She said simply. "Five years is too long to wait."

"Well, then."

Jason Todd!

Next Chapter: Reunions of All Kinds


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